The final form of the GB changes is coming to Beta October 8, 2026

 

There are some big changes and fortunately a lot of the sneak peak changes didn't make it into this final form but some did.  

So we'll break this down into good news/bad news.

Good News:

They're finally doing it.  Just rip the band-aid off and stop the uncertainty.  After three years of hand-wringing it's finally here for better or worse.

The FP cost is being reduced by about 80%

GB's getting the gold tier (all 21 of them) can now go up to lv 500 

All GB's will have their special goods requirements removed.  All players of any age can now build any GB.  The GB's may require goods of that age (SAT, SASH and SAD) but are no longer age locked due to special goods.  That also means players camping in SASH because they need to raise a GB to lv100 that requires special goods are free to age-up.

The contribution reward changes that were introduced a week ago on Beta will be universal.  This really is good news.  It's a better system for building high level GB's but small GB's may lose their sweet spot we've all come to love (and snipe).

Gold tier GB's will have seven contributor slots instead of five.  The spots are cheap and really a way to feed people gold BP's.

All GB's will retain whatever level you find your GB in will be the level after the changes.  So if you have a silver CoA at lv 240 it will be a gold CoA at lv 240.  If you have a GB that will not receive a gold tier above lv 200 it will be reduced to lv 200.  More on that in the bad news section.

We have spoken here many times about how even the prestige levels of the GB's are not sufficient to motivate established players to build because they will still not be able to compete with event buildings.  That is why the CoA and Kraken were such good options because they boosted a % of your own boosts.  That means as building inflation continues they will continue to be good while the static boosts will become obsolete again.  I'll post the full list of changes below now that they're confirmed.  More on the kraken in the bad news section.

Arc contribution boosts no longer stop when a GB hits gold level.  This is huge as the 1.9 type threads would be a mess the other way.  Big asterix on this though.

Bad news:

Silver tier is eliminated.

Buildings not getting a gold tier are still capped at lv 200.

If you have say a level 250 GB that is getting a gold tier it will be a level 250 GB after the change.  That is good.  What is bad is on both live and beta servers if you have opened up the levels to avoid the additional costs after the change you will lose those levels and be refunded what you invested.  (allegedly I will believe when I see)

Some GB's have completely changed what they will give as a bonus and I can't see any of them that improved upon first glance.

So let's get into it.

This is the graphic we were asked to use.  I'm sure there will be a more fancy one when this becomes official.

As you can see silver tier is gone.

Copper goes from lv 1 to 200

Gold starts at lv 101 to 500

You can level past 500 but the rewards for doing so will be almost nil.  But it's not a hard cap anymore.  Unless you're chasing ranking points or want to feed people BP at great expense to yourself it doesn't seem like a good idea.

These are the gold tier bonuses

GE:

Zeus - multiply red attack and defense GE

Lotus Temple - gives boost to science allies (simulates higher level) also boost blue attack and defense GE % multiplier

TA - another kick in the nuts or ovaries.  Red and blue attack and defense % boost for.....GE oh that sucks.

Space Carrier - % increase to production of special goods AND...red and blue attack multiplier for..GE so not worth building if you're camping in SASH or higher due to the reduced need of special goods.

Observatory - makes guild goods of current, next age and previous ages AND blue defense multiplier for GE

GbG:

CoA - received a nerf.  Now multiplies red attack only GbG

Traz - ladies and gentlemen it's time to build the Traz again.  Red and Blue attack and defense GbG and....red and blue attack and defense % boost GbG

Seed Vault - improved helping hands.  You get increased chance of better reward when hitting the aid-all button.  I want to see how that affects diamonds.  AND blue attack and defense GbG multiplier

HC - another kick in the ovaries.  Multiplies blue defense GbG.  I'm holding out hope that the number here will be huge but I suspect it's a nerf.

QI: 

CdM - this is a kick in the nuts for anyone that built this up because they're blue fighters in QI.  It now multiplies red attack QI 

Deal Castle - multiplies blue attack QI

the Virgo Project - second wave missile launch and red defense multiplier QI

Allies:

Colosseum - boosts military ally (simulates higher level)

CF - gives a % boost to rewards received in heroic tavern

Lotus Temple - gives boost to science allies (simulates higher level) also boost blue attack and defense GE % multiplier

other:

St Mark's Basilica - multiplies goods boost

Royal Albert Hall - goods (not a %)

Arc - the gold levels give boost to gold levels of other GB's.  If your Arc is only lv 80 and someone posts a gold tier GB you will not be getting 1.9 back.  Past level 100 you will start getting contribution rewards.  Now if you're in a guild that uses full-arc boost threads you have a decision to make.  If you level your arc to say lv 500 what is the incentive to do so?  The new contribution system makes it really hard to snipe so the return on that investment is minimal at best.

AO - this one is interesting.  You get a % chance to critical hit (150% damage) against units NOT in your age.  It doesn't apply to rogues.  Will this be enough for people camping in a lower age and getting next age units to build an AO?

Seed Vault - improved helping hands.  You get increased chance of better reward when hitting the aid-all button.  I want to see how that affects diamonds.  AND blue attack and defense GbG multiplier

kraken - this is the throw a brick through a window change I was banging on about in the last post.  It now gives second strike on the second of two wave attacks.  So there is a % chance to kill one unit for a limited number of times on the second wave.  This is now a garbage GB and I have lost millions of FP's because of this change.  You've go to be f-ing kidding me.

blue galaxy - gold levels work in QI as they do in main city.  Limited number of charges to get a varying % chance based on level to double collection in QI.  I think this is good for people that already have a high-level BG past lv 158 but I can't see anyone being motivated to build it to level 500

HC - enhances existing spoils of war

Shattered Horizon Siphon - increases contribution rewards when contributing to gold levels of other GB's.  That's anything over lv 100 now but again if you have a full contribution boost thread what will be your return on investment?

For copper levels we're just going to add the graphics given to us as it's a lot of typing and they use "penal units" for troops produced by traz and I kind of like that.

Leveling costs changes examples.  This is sincerely all we were given so all you SHS folks asking for costs you'll have to wait a couple of days.

Here is the cost to level all the prestige tier GB to level 500

Here is the cost to level all copper only GB's to level 200

Contributions

When it comes to contributions and ARC/SHS boosts we got a very confusing information sheet that hopefully will be cleared-up before the official announcement.  I will copy/paste it here in it's entirety.  

All four of us read it.  Between us we speak 9 languages.  It didn't make sense to any of us so here goes.  If it makes sense to you please comment.

"The percentage drops as levels go up, but level costs climb much faster, so the total reward still grows with every band. Contributing to a high level always pays more than contributing to a low one. And since it's a fixed share of a known cost, you can work out exactly what a spot is worth before you commit.

Note: The number of Blueprints you get from contribution rewards is reduced by around 60% to balance out the more efficient FP rewards and keep Blueprints a rare resource. Medal amounts don't change.

What about the Arc? On Copper levels, its Contribution Bonus works as usual. On Gold levels, the Contribution Boost only applies when you contribute to other Gold Great Buildings. Since the release of Stellar Age: Discovery, we have one more GB with the exact same effect: The Shattered Horizon Siphon's.

Gold levels now reward 7 contributor places. Copper levels keep 5. The total reward pot stays the same, it's just split more ways, so more people get something out of each level-up. Places are still ranked by total Forge Points contributed, and first place still takes the clear majority."

I don't know how to read that in any other way than to say the Arc was nerfed and I don't know what level your SHS and/or Arc have to be to get 2.0 contributions back.

On Beta right now we can get 2.0 returns on a lv 200 GB and it's only lv 300 and up that are screwed-up.  With this change that would mean any GB in the threads that is level 101 or higher gets what boost?  1.0?

GB refinery still exists but honestly just take spots on people's GB's and avoid all that.